New Haven is the home of Karen and a possible destination for William Henry Devereaux, Jr. to seek treatment for a suspected bladder stone. In the passage, it is both a family address and a private alternative to undergoing a procedure near his colleagues.

Family Connection

Karen lives in a second-floor flat in New Haven, an apartment that bears no resemblance to her parents’ house. The contrast marks her home as distinct from her parents’ domestic world, while the location gives William a nearby family connection beyond his visit to Julie and Russell.

A Possible Place for Treatment

After experiencing difficulty urinating, William suspects that he has a stone and anticipates diagnostic tests and possibly surgery. He worries less about the operation than about colleagues treating the ailment as a joke, and hopes to keep it secret until the semester ends. New Haven enters his thinking as a potential place to have the problem addressed while people are away; he also wonders whether a large metropolitan hospital might offer ultrasound treatment that could break up the stone without surgery. These are possibilities he considers, not a treatment or visit that the passage confirms.

Narrative Significance

New Haven’s brief appearance connects William’s physical vulnerability with his impulse to manage how others see him. His imagined trip there is shaped by privacy and by Karen’s presence, while the passage’s contrast between her apartment and her parents’ house gives the city a separate place in the family’s geography.